The Berserkers. The actual physical reasons for this ability is that adrenalin rush is too much, too fast and overwhelms the brain and body till peak is over, thus producing a trans like state of unusual strength and destruction. Those of Viking and Polynesian ancestry have triple the incidence of this. Since my ex and my sons are both, I've seen it first hand and heard alot of the stories. I've tried to train them, growing up, to control and save these for "special" times. They seem to get it under control by age 27 or so. I've learned special techniques to deal with those moments. Anyone else care to share?

Yes, I believe that. But my thought here is our body chemistries may have alot to do with some aspects of it as well. As we know, the moon controls the tides, water over the earths shores, as it does the liquid in your brain. So it's dragging liquid from the other hemisphere of our brain, then cutting it loose, that may have that effect. Like a dry shoreline. Drinking more WATER during full moon can help. Avoid drinks high in sugar and alcohol unless you've found those help. Mead may come in handy here since the honey processes differently. Sometimes, I can Not be in moonlight if I'm not feeling balanced. It may be different for each individual.

I know what you mean by the state of being berserk. I find that it has ties to emotions like anger and hate and when channelled properly you can cause enough adrenaline to pump through you to become noticeably stronger, but at the same time, enraged. I find it to be useful at times when I am at work, which requires my own strength to lift and carry and move heavy things all day. So the extra boost of strength helps at the coat of people thinking I'm angry all day.

Very good site Brothers. I have had experiences with those who seem born with this predisposition. They are broader shouldered and large hands, larger foreheads even. I've managed to calm several heading into wrong decisions and watch come back from the blindness. I think if they are born into lineage that recognises them, they have great potential.

The berserker study is certainly interesting... Especially the mastery of it; being able to harness the power without loosing yourself completely. It's interesting to look at it from all angles as well: the chemistry involved, the mentality, the physical changes, and of course the spiritual connotations.

For my profession as a youth counselor, I am asking those of you who feel you are berserkers to please share your experiences as children and teens and also when and how you learned to control yourselves. This may cause me to revisit my files on a few of my clients for new clues to their behavior, though I doubt any of them were berserker, I am open to new possibilities.

Honestly, after getting to know most of the kids in my care, I would enjoy a little hand to hand combat with their parents. The problems rarely originate with the kids.

Last edited by SacredRowan on Mon Feb 24, 2014 8:54 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I would probably have benefited from your professional services as a child. I have never experienced anything that I would classify as a berserk episode but in my childhood (around age 7) my fight or flight reflex shifted dramatically to fight. This was due more to social factors than anything else but in retrospect my parents (birth mother and step-father) were completely apathetic to my situation.

I realize that you may be investigating the beserker concept for the first but in order to not hijack this discussion I'll keep my question on topic: In your opinion, on the nature vs nurture scale, how much would each concept factor in to the ability to control rage of this sort? Do you think this would be more of a chemistry issue or one due to experiences?

In your opinion, on the nature vs nurture scale, how much would each concept factor in to the ability to control rage of this sort? Do you think this would be more of a chemistry issue or one due to experiences?

Great question Tyrsman and thank you for the warm welcome.

You asked for my opinion, so here goes...nature vs nurture from my experience initially depends on the child's natural predisposition to stimuli. Some are born with empathy hardwired, some are naturally apathetic and some have a fairly balanced combination of both. In my opinion these are the building blocks for how a child reacts to emotional stimuli especially those stimuli that cause pain, fear and anger.

Chemical imbalances in the brain have been a proven source of aggression, but imbalanced brain chemistry is rarely the cause of abject rage resulting in physical harm to others caused by young children (under the age of 12).

In regards to nurture, in my experience these rage behaviors manifest due to emotionally unintelligent parents (by emotionally unintelligent I mean adults who aren't actively trying to understand their child's emotional state and are unwillingly to believe they have any responsibility whatsoever in how their child reacts to the world) who are unable to provide their child with whatever corrective behavior is beneficial specific to their child. That is the key. Understanding who your child is, not who you want him to be. There are a whole host of nurturing shortfalls which can lead to outbursts of seemingly uncontrollable rage but the short list that I see most often is abandonment (by father or mother or both), parental apathy and parental self-absorption.

So to keep this from being too lengthy, it is my opinion that although some children are naturally aggressive, when you add the lack of nurturing, emotionally intelligent parents they not only add fuel to the fire, but often are what causes a child to explode in the first place. That being said, there are those rare cases when chemical imbalances are ruled out and mom and dad are really loving parents and junior is still a rage machine. Those little warriors need constant redirection and understanding. I've seen them thrive and I've seen them take a dive... there is no perfect solution.

That is an excellent overview. Thank you for sharing your thoughts, they lend credence to some conclusions I had drawn based on my own experiences. I thought I might possibly be a little too close too the picture to provide an accurate assessment. I’ll try not to take advantage of your professional expertise but my since wife says I have more issues than National Geogaphic perhaps you should just go ahead and start a running tab for me.

In case you have not read or seen it yet, lady RavenCall actually started a thread in the off topic section titled berserker youth study. It was based on similarities to what you are asking about. Perhaps you could start your searching there, considering that it's main contributors are still active on this forum for you to pick the brains of...

Thanks for the redirection. After reading the thread on the berserker youth study post, I believe perhaps I should not pursue this discussion further. I am a licensed professional and have studied psychology, sociology and anthropology for years, but my practice as a counselor is done as an emotional intuitive.

My curiosity about berserkergang caused me to ask for personal experiences of those in the OB, however (and Tyrsman I am honored you asked for my professional opinion) I fear my responses may be polarizing and I do not want to diminish anyone's life experience based on my time with angry youth. As I said originally, I doubt any of my kids were berserker.

I came to this conclusion after reading your posts WarHorse. I found myself wanting to know your history in order to better understand your perspective. As you said this is a very personal topic and I now feel it may have been disrespectful of me to ask people to share their stories for me to study like specimens. I realize that my reaction to your story would be the same for everyone who shares their stories.

If anyone wants to dig deeper into their personal experience as a berserker, I am happy to correspond with them. But I must refrain from giving my insight unless someone specifically asks for it.

It's good to know that you have not only intelligence, but also great honor and respect. There are something's that I will not share or post to this forum, even though much of it would serve greatly towards assisting others. Admittedly, RavenCall and I have become quite close after making contact on this forum, and there are still things that we have not shared with one another. However, I am not entirely apposed to perhaps starting some sort of dialogue and correspondence to delve deeper into the mind of "Warhorse". It all starts with trust...

Would you be ok with private correspondence? I wouldn't want our conversations about this subject to offend any other OB members who feel they are berserkers. It would be a nice way to try to understand the mind of someone who has been there, so to speak. But as you said it takes trust...so when you feel you can trust me with your story, let me know and I will give you a way to contact me.

I do not think you should be overly concerned about having a polarizing effect. Most people here are intelligent and mature enough to realize that everybody has their own point of view. Although opposing viewpoints can sometimes lead to heated debate, that is where there is opportunity to learn. I think the most common reason people are here is to learn, if we can't entertain somebody else's point of view or thoughts on a subject without getting getting our feelings hurt then there's not much hope for personal growth.